Loretta Wheeler-Biography

Biography

I'm a southern gal, born in the north, but I got here as fast I could.

That's a saying we have here in Texas, so I thought I'd slip it in for all you Texans. But, for the northerners', I want to add that I have very warm memories from my childhood. In the fall, there were autumn leaves that rival any sunrise or sunset that I've ever seen. Come winter, we would ice the backyard with the water hose and skate on it for hours, followed by snow ball fights that lasted until we couldn't throw anymore.

While I was still young, my parents returned to the south to be with family. From then on, family played a large role in my life. Homemade ice cream was cranked and served in the back yard at night, and all the while, the fragrance of gardenias and honeysuckles lingered everywhere, surrounding us with their essence.

It was the memories of these scents and the sultry warmth of southern nights that greatly influenced my initial writings and still hold sway in much of my work.

I began my first attempt at writing in 1998. I created a premise for an online story in which other writers were encouraged to participate. The story I held in my imagination was much different from the direction each of the writers took, but the initial plot always lingered in my mind. Finally, deciding I wanted to write the original concept, I closed the story site and began research for the novel which I envisioned.

The research took me to The French Quarter in New Orleans, and eventually to a Bed and Breakfast named The Victoria Inn and Gardens. With their guidance I was directed to a plantation named Laura: A Creole Plantation. All three of these places began to form a thread, each playing a large part in the essence of the story.

The French Quarter became my delight, evoking feelings of a place long forgotten. The Inn felt like a home away from home and always seemed to be the place I should stay when I went for research. When the owner's discovered the subject I was researching they advised me to visit the previously mentioned plantation. It was there that I found so many coincidences existed between its history and the story I was writing.

That was how I began, and why my writing is strongly influenced by the south, and often set within its heart.

Warm southern smiles sent your way,

Loretta

PRO Member of the RWA, Elements of Romance and Kiss of Death